Albion Monitor /Commentary

Letters

All correspondence should be sent to editor@monitor.net. We reserve the right to edit letters as needed.


Bear Lincoln Murder Trial Begins

In solidarity with the ongoing trial of Bear Lincoln, as well as with Fred Short, who has been fasting since July 4 for the freedom of Leonard Peltier, a spiritual run will be held on Saturday, August 30, from Ya-Ka-Ama in Sonoma County to Coyote Valley. Needed are runners and volunteers. Call (707) 869-2446 for more information.

Leonard Peltier Support Group
A.I.M. of Sonoma County


I do very much enjoy your site. In particular I appreciate and want to support your coverage of Native American issues. I am also greatly impressed by the volume of important material that you are passing along. Thank you! My subscription will be forthcoming.

Can you direct me to a website where I can get daily coverage of the Bear Lincoln trial? (Besides the Press Democrat.)

"Patrick"


Monitor reporter Nicholas Wilson attends the trial daily, but we found that weekly updates offered a more logical way to present courtroom events thus far. As of August 24, we've produced nine stories just on the trial, collected into three special reports. In this manner, we've been able to show connections between important developments in the case. However, we will begin providing daily bulletins and summaries as needed, particularly if and when Bear Lincoln takes the stand.

-- Editor



Thank you for reporting on the Bear Lincoln trial -- we don't hear about these details anywhere else.

"Eric"


I rely on your coverage of the Bear Lincoln trial. I understand that the AVA is a good journal but you are on the web. I'm sorry that Bill Jelavich sees the coverage as an "either-or" proposition. Please keep up the great work.

BTW, there is nothing stopping anyone from printing your articles. I just did.

Free Bear Lincoln !

Joel Norvell


In our last letters section, Mr. Jelavich expressed his preference for newsprint.

-- Editor



Susan McDougal, One Tough Woman

Alexander Cockburn's article on Susan McDougal was very interesting and certainly sad. She is guilty of what? This is something the Nazi's would have done to coerce their "guests. " Not being incarcerated as a criminal, the indignities she has been subjected to go far beyond that of "encouraging" her to testify.

Do you have an address where Ms. McDougal can be contacted by mail? I admire her strength, and wish to tell her so.

D. Freeman


Ways to contact Mrs. McDougal and more information on her case can be found at the Susan McDougal Home Page.

-- Editor



Public Art: Whose Version of History?

We appreciate the quality information you provide and are pleased to be able to link from the Texas Cultural & Arts Network (TCAnet). The inclusion of your website makes TCAnet richer and more informative and we thank you.

Laura M. Wiegand, Texas Commission on the Arts


Fortuna Alliance

Why dont you tell us about Fortuna winning the court case -- or do you work for the FTC?

Robina Elliot (Australia)


I think it is a huge cop-out on the part of you and your newspaper not to print a follow-up to your Fortuna Alliance story. Those that read your Fortuna article may never know what came out of the court hearings. While I am still unsure exactly what will happen with Fortuna, I can say that they are well on their way toward building a huge business. Their online software is in the works, (you can already download a sample version off of one of their web-pages), and they have many goods and services available in some of the countries where they do business.

It is clear that you, or someone at your magazine has a serious grudge against Delgado and/or the Fortuna Alliance. If your not going to print a story about the present state of Fortuna (now Fortuna Alliance II), then at least print an article explaining why you do not like it.

Brent Acree


Curiously, the only people who ever attack our Fortuna Alliance series are non-subscribers, which means that they've only read the free articles -- less than half of the series that they find so unfair. Also interesting is that most Fortuna advocates argue, "You don't print what we want, so you must have a sinister reason." This is a nasty little logical error known as "Argumentum ad Hominem" that's an old favorite of zealots everywhere.

The Albion Monitor contains hard news. The FTC bust was newsworthy, as were the details about their operations. The doings of Fortuna Alliance since the raids are thus far only PR -- and pretty empty PR, at that. The Monitor doesn't print PR. We'll consider a follow-up news story if events merit coverage, but the Albion Monitor is not a Fortuna watchdog, reporting on every minor development.

As for their winning the court case, that was covered in an earlier letters section:

Despite the optimistic claims of some Fortuna members, the government has not closed the case or vindicated Fortuna. This is clearly explained on a FTC web page which also contains the stipulated final judgement:

Contrary to some reports you may have seen on the Internet, Fortuna was not "cleared" of any of the charges against it. The FTC did not drop its charges against Fortuna or withdraw its contention that Fortuna Alliance was an illegal pyramid scheme. (The only "charges" that were dropped were those made by the defendants against the FTC.) By entering the settlement, both parties agreed that there would simply be no trial or adjudication of any issue of law or fact. That is, there is no decision either way by the Court. However, Fortuna cannot return to the same business it was running before this case. That would violate the permanent injunction it agreed to.

-- Editor




Albion Monitor Issue 34 (http://www.monitor.net/monitor)

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